


Worlds Collide

by adiwriting



Series: Current!Verse [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Cannon Divergent, F/M, Mutant!Felicity, Post Season 2 era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-22 21:18:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7454269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adiwriting/pseuds/adiwriting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things between Oliver and Felicity are strained after he finds out she's a mutant, but a visit from some old friends of Felicity's may be just want they need to work things out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dettiot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dettiot/gifts).



> This fic is a birthday present for the lovely Dettiot. I hope that your birthday is as amazing at you are ;) 
> 
> Special thanks to acheaptrickandacheesyoneline and EmisFritish for their help editing this one!

“Take the next right, our gunmen are in a white Cadillac CTS,” Felicity instructs Oliver, Digg, and Roy over the coms while she simultaneously follows the perp on traffic cams and runs the license plates. 

“Who are these guys?” Digg asks. 

“Plates belong to a Gloria Buckman… That can’t be right. They must have stolen the car,” Felicity says. 

“Why? Because women can’t be gunmen?” Roy asks. 

“Because Gloria Buckman is 70 years old with no known relatives,” she says, taking in as much information as she can, as quickly as she can, about the woman. In a matter of seconds, she knows Gloria’s entire life history. “She has a driver with a prison record for armed robbery, Stephen Felix. Dollars to doughnuts he’s one of the men we’re after.” 

“Traffic is awful, we’re never going to catch up to him,” Digg says. 

“Can’t you do something?” Oliver says. 

“What would you like me to do, exactly?” she asks. 

“You’re smart, figure something out,” he says, and she can hear what he’s really asking her to do. She’s a mutant, use her powers.

She rolls her eyes. It’s convenient that he has no qualms about her abilities when it comes to how they can benefit him.

She could argue with him about it, but she knows he’s right. She can’t let the gunmen get away and Oliver has no chance of catching up with him if she can’t figure out a way to deal with the traffic currently stopping them from being able to reach the gunmen. Even with the way that Oliver can zip through cars on his Ducati, it’s too dangerous for him to continue trying to cross traffic when they keep hitting red lights.

She touches her computer and closes her eyes, concentrating on the map in her mind. She can feel the energy flowing out of her and she directs it the intersection that Oliver is currently at and begins forcing all of the lights to turn red within a 10 block radius. 

“Felicity?” Oliver says tentatively, clearly asking her if the lights are her doing or not. 

“Go!” she yells. “He’s turning onto Adams. We can’t lose him and if he makes it to O’Neil, we won’t have him on traffic cams anymore.”

Felicity’s arms begin to shake as blue sparks leave her body and go into her computer. She can feel her body begin to heat up and she breaks out into a sweat. It’s been awhile since she’s used her powers for something this big. She’s out of shape and breathing heavily.

“Are you alright?” Digg asks. 

“I’m fine,” she says through gritted teeth as she concentrates on keeping the lights red while not overpowering the system and frying any circuits. 

“How are you doing this?” Roy asks. 

“I’ve got him!” Oliver yells before Felicity has a chance to make up a lie. A minute later, she hears a car crash and the sound of a door being forced open. “Stephen Felix, you have failed this city!” 

****

Felicity wakes up from her spot on the couch to the sound of somebody knocking at her door. She glances at the clock to see that it’s 1am. She must have fallen asleep shortly after she’d gotten off the coms. Using so much of her power had really taken it out of her. It’s hard to believe that there was a time not too long ago when displays like that were a nightly occurrence for her. 

She really should practice more. There’s no telling when she’ll need her powers and she’d rather be working at full strength whenever that day comes. 

The knocking continues, but she doesn’t worry about it. She knows anyone looking to cause her harm this time of night wouldn’t bother with knocking first. She expects to find Oliver on the other side of the door, but instead she finds Digg. 

“Hey,” she says, opening the door wider so that he can step inside. “What are you doing here?” 

“Trying to figure out what you’re doing here,” he says, giving her a pointed look.

She crosses her arms defensively. “I told you. I’m not feeling well, so I decided to work from home. Wouldn’t want to get any of you guys sick.”

He eyes her up and down, clearly trying to figure out if she’s telling the truth or not. 

“This doesn’t have anything to do with Oliver, does it?” Digg asks. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Ever since I got back from Coast City, you two have been avoiding each other every chance you get. Or, more accurately, you’ve been avoiding Oliver and he’s been walking around looking like somebody stole his puppy. Then, when you are together, you can barely look at one another. Add that to the fact that you’ve been on edge for the last few weeks. What happened?” 

“Nothing,” she says, but Digg doesn’t look convinced. 

Over the last 3 weeks, she’s been coming up with different excuses almost every night to avoid going into the lair. Then, when she does make it in, things between Oliver and her are so awkward she can barely focus on work. She’s decided it’s just easier to stay away. However, it’s getting increasingly harder to come up with believable excuses and she knows that Roy and Digg are starting to suspect she’s not being entirely truthful about her reasons for not coming in. 

“Did Oliver do something?” he asks.

Felicity sighs, knowing that he’s not going to stop until she comes up with something to tell him. She waves him further inside while she heads into the kitchen to put a pot of coffee on. 

“You know you can talk to me about anything,” Digg says, and he looks serious. 

“I know,” she says, smiling at him. 

If her problem with Oliver were anything else, she would tell Digg in a heartbeat. He always knows just what to say to make her feel better. However, this is the one thing that she’ll never be able to talk to him about. So she takes a deep breath and does what she does best. 

She tells him a half-truth. 

“Oliver and I had a fight when you were gone,” she says. “He found out something about my past he didn’t like and we fought. We’ve since talked about it and forgiven each other, but…” 

“But you two can barely look at each other,” he finishes for her. 

“Yeah,” she says. “I don’t know. I keep trying to make things better between the two of us and I know he’s trying, too. I guess it’s just not possible to go back to the way things were.” 

“Things aren’t going to get back to normal if you continue to hide out at home every night pretending to be sick,” he says, giving her a pointed look. 

Felicity knows that he’s right, but that doesn’t mean she has to like it. Being around Oliver while things are so awkward between them is painful. 

He must sense that she’s thinking of a protest, because he adds on, “Oliver isn’t fighting at 100% right now. He’s too distracted by whatever’s going on with you. Come back so you two can work through this.” 

“So this is about helping Oliver, not me,” she says with a bitter laugh.

“It’s about helping  _ both _ of you,” he says, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You mean the world to each other and I’d hate to see one fight tear you apart. And I’d selfishly hate it if whatever Oliver did meant that I lost my partner in crime and the only other sane voice in the lair.” 

He smiles at her and she smiles back. 

“So I’ll see you tomorrow night?” he asks, to which she nods. 

He’s right. Oliver means too much to her to let them fall apart just because they are both too cowardly to confront the awkwardness between them. And even if she wasn’t secretly in love with Oliver, Felicity loves her work with Team Arrow too much to let it go. 

“I’ve gotta get home to Lyla,” he tells her. 

“Of course,” Felicity says. “Tell her I said hello and that she’s not getting out of the baby shower I have planned for her.” 

“She’s going to hate that,” Digg says with a laugh. 

“It’ll be small,” she says. “Team Arrow only. And anyone else she wants to invite.” 

He pulls her in for a hug and whispers into her ear, “You know that I’m always here for you. No matter what stupid thing Oliver does or says. We’re in this together.” 

She pulls away from him and pours his coffee into a travel mug for the road. 

“Of course,” she says, trying not to feel guilty over the fact that she’s still keeping her identity from him. “OTA forever, right?” 

“Right,” he says with a laugh. “Just let me be there when you tell Oliver that’s what you’re calling us now.” 

“Go home to your pregnant wife,” she says, pushing him towards the door. 

“She’s not my wife.”

“Only because you two are being absolutely ridiculous.” 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says. “If you’re not there by 6:30, I’ll come pick you up and drag you there myself.” 

Felicity rolls her eyes. “I’ll be there.” 

****

Felicity opens the door to the lair at exactly 6:29pm the next night. The sound of metal hitting metal echoes throughout the room and she knows they must be sparring. She looks over to the training mats as she makes her way down the stairs. Oliver glances up at the sound of her heels and looks surprised to see her.

“Hey,” Oliver says, handing his sword to Digg to take his place in his sparring match against Roy. 

“Hey,” she says back, feeling awkward already. She heads over to her desk, which still sits relatively empty, since she hasn’t brought her things back yet since that night 3 weeks ago. 

“I didn’t know you were coming in tonight,” he walks over to join her at her desk. 

“That’s okay, right?” she asks, feeling self-conscious.

“Yeah. Of course,” he says. “It’s good, even.” 

“Good,” she says, giving him a tentative smile. 

“Good,” he repeats, then winces. 

She doesn’t know if she should be glad this conversation is just as awkward for him as it is for her, or sad that it’s awkward in the first place. 

“So,” she says, searching for something to talk about but coming up with nothing. 

“So,” he says and Felicity thinks that if he repeats her one more time, she will leave and never look back. Things with them have never been this hard. Even when they’d first met and she’d been a complete idiot and rambled on about his dead dad, they’d never had a hard time finding something to talk about. 

“That was a good save last night,” she says, closing her eyes in embarrassment as she can hear Roy snorting in the background.

“I couldn't have done it without you,” Oliver says. 

His comment is innocent. There's no way anyone would hear it and assume that she'd used powers to help him, but it still makes her blush and looks nervously around the room. 

“So you're feeling better then?” he asks. 

“Hm?” 

“You said you were sick, that's why you didn't come in yesterday,” he says. “Are you feeling better?”

Right, she'd lost track of the many different excuses she'd given over the last 3 weeks as to why she couldn't come in. 

“Yeah, I'm ok,” she says. 

“Good,” he says. “That’s… Good.”

“Okay, I can't watch this anymore,” Roy says, throwing his sword to the ground and coming over to them, Digg following behind him. “This is just painful.”

“What is?” Oliver asks. 

“You two,” he says. “You've been dancing around each other doing some prolonged mating ritual for months. Then Digg and I take one night off and we come back to you guys barely able to look at each other, let alone carry on a conversation. I never thought I'd miss the sex eyes, but Jesus. I miss the sex eyes.”

“Mating ritual?” Oliver says at the same time Felicity says, “Sex eyes?” 

“What happened between you two? And please don't tell me you slept with her, Oliver, because you told me you weren't going to make a move on her because it could jeopardize the team.”

Felicity looks to Oliver in shock. “What is he talking about?”

“Nothing,” Oliver says, which only causes Roy to roll his eyes and snort. 

“Right,” Roy says. “You may have been ¾ of a way through a bottle of vodka, but I wasn't. I remember exactly what you said. Especially the part about how you used to fantasize about—”

“Finish that sentence and the police will never find your body,” Oliver says. 

Felicity looks back and forth between the two men, trying to force their words to make sense. Since when does Oliver drink? The most he’ll drink is a shot of vodka after a hard night, a glass of obligatory champagne at fancy events, or the occasional glass of whiskey or beer over celebratory drinks with the team. He never drinks enough to get drunk. She's not even sure if he ever drinks enough to get buzzed. 

And what does Roy mean Oliver promised to never make a move. Why would Oliver ever be even considering making a move on her? 

“Just tell me you didn't sleep together,” Roy says, crossing his arms. 

“Why is this even a discussion?” Felicity says, hiding her face in her hands. She doesn't want to see Oliver's reaction to the idea that the two of them slept together. Her imagination is bad enough. She doesn't need to see the man she's in love with literally grimace at the thought of having sex with her. 

“Felicity is too smart for that,” Oliver says. 

When she opens her eyes to look at him and try to figure out what that is supposed to mean, she's surprised to see Oliver’s arms crossed and his face practically begging Roy to stop talking. 

Felicity looks to Digg to give her some kind of explanation, but he only shakes his head. Whatever previous drunken discussion Roy and Oliver had about her, Digg hadn't been part of it. 

“Oliver?” She reaches out her hand to put it on his arm to get his attention. 

“It's nothing,” he says with a tight smile. 

“Okay, fine. You two didn't sleep together, but you can't tell me something didn't happen,” Roy says. “You guys are being hella awkward.”

Before she can even think of a lie to explain the awkwardness between them, the alarm goes off, signaling that somebody has broken into Verdant. Oliver grabs her arm and pulls her behind him, even though he now knows she is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. The three guys all turn their attention to the stairway, waiting for whoever’s broken in to make their way to the basement. 

Felicity reaches out behind her and flips on the security cameras and speakers just in time to hear a familiar voice say, “Fucking computers.” The alarm system is violently shut off a second later, and thankfully, Felicity is the only one to see exactly how. She doesn’t know how she’d explain adamantium claws without giving away her secret. 

Despite the fact that she’s now going to have to spend another several hours repairing the security system, she smiles. She’s missed both Logan and Kitty, probably more than anyone else. She ducks around Oliver and starts heading upstairs. 

“Felicity,” Oliver whispers harshly. “What are you doing?” 

She turns around to see all three of them looking at her like she’s crazy. 

“It's okay,” she reassures them. She's about to tell Oliver who it is before she realizes that she can't say anything in front of Digg or Roy. 

“It's just some old college friends of mine,” she says, the lie flowing right off her tongue. “I told them I worked nights here for some extra cash. Guess I never told them the club got closed. I'll just go deal with this. You guys can stay here.”

She taps the light switch on her way out the door, sending a bolt of energy to shut down all the camera and mics in the club. She doesn't need any of them overhearing whatever it is Logan and Kitty have to say. 

“Ah, there's our little traitor,” Kitty says as Felicity walks into the main area of the club, but there's no malice behind it. 

“What are you guys doing here?” Felicity asks, giving Kitty a big hug before turning to Logan.

He's got his arms crossed and is glaring at her. 

“So, no hug then?” she asks, wondering just how long his silent treatment will last before he starts lecturing her. 

His only response is a grunt. 

“They said you went blonde, but I was thinking Avril Lavigne not Malibu Barbie,” Kitty says, playfully tugging on her hair. 

“You don't like it?” she asks, looking down at her bright pink dress with cut-outs down the sides. She knows she looks much different from the girl that Kitty used to know. 

“Hey, if you're happy, I'm happy,” Kitty says. “So long as you didn't do this for a boy.”

Kitty gives her a pointed look. 

“What did they tell you?” she asks, knowing that Scott and Ororo must have said something or they wouldn't be here. 

“Just that you're doing IT for the vigilante,” Kitty says, to which Logan grunts again. 

Neither of them look amused, and Felicity can understand why. When she told them that she was leaving the team, it was because she wanted a normal life. Nothing about working with Oliver could be considered normal. 

“I know how this must look,” she says. 

“It looks like you quit and moved away, leaving behind all your friends, only to turn around and work for the Hood,” Kitty says. 

“They call him the Arrow now,” she says, shifting on her feet, dreading having this conversation, especially here. She didn’t need to see their glares to know that they wouldn’t approve. There is a reason she’s never told them what she gets up to at night. 

“He can change his name and get a new suit, doesn't change the fact that he's human. What can he really do to protect this city?” Kitty asks. 

“A lot more than you'd think,” she says, defensively. 

Logan snorts and Kitty just looks doubtful. 

“You guys haven't seen him in a fight. He can handle himself. Besides, he has me,” Felicity says. 

“Not anymore he doesn't,” Logan says, speaking up finally, which can only mean her lecture is coming. “We're here to take you back to the mansion.”

It's Felicity’s turn to scoff. 

“You've known I was here since the day I moved,” Felicity says. “You've never been anything but supportive.”

“Yes,” he says. “Supportive of you working for that douchebag Queen and living out a normal, safe life. You never said anything about working for the vigilante.”

“I'm happy here, isn't that what you wanted?” Felicity asks. “Your exact words when I told you I was leaving the mansion were to find what makes me happy.” 

“That was before I knew you had a penchant for making bad decisions and poor taste in men,” Logan says. 

“Oh, I'm gonna need a drink,” Kitty says, walking over to the bar and helping herself to a glass of whiskey. 

“Don't talk about Cooper,” she says, knowing that she’s seconds away from crying. Just the mention of his name always make her heart twist painfully.

“Are you honestly still naive enough not to see that boy ruined your life?” he asks, practically yelling by this point. 

“Is everything alright?” Oliver asks, stepping out into the club, quickly followed by Digg and Roy. 

“We’re fine,” Felicity says with a tight smile, trying to keep the calm in the room. She can only imagine what will happen if Logan or Oliver start viewing the other as a threat. They are both far too over-protective of her for their own good. “Go back downstairs. I'm gonna take the night off to show these two around Starling.”

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. Your rich, douchebag boss is the vigilante?” Logan says. “Well I guess you didn't technically lie then did you?”

“Look, I don’t know who you are, but I'm gonna have to ask you to leave,” Oliver says.

Logan looks like he's about to bring out the claws when Felicity jumps in front of him and grabs his arm.

“Logan, please don't,” she says, giving him look and barely shaking her head, trying to convey that Roy and Digg don't know her secret. She hopes he understands. 

“Well, now that the males have done the mandatory display of testosterone,” Kitty says, putting her glass behind the bar then jumping off the counter to walk over to Oliver. “You must be why my best friend refuses to move back home.”

“Kitty, this is Oliver, Digg, and Roy,” Felicity says, not moving from her spot in front of Logan, lest he decide to do something stupid. “I worked for Oliver at Queen Consolidated. That's where I met Digg, he's Oliver’s head of security. And Roy is…”

Felicity doesn't really know how to explain Roy anymore. He's not Thea’s boyfriend, and he doesn't work for the club since it got shut down. In fact, they should probably work on a new cover for him for when the cameras catch them all together. 

“Roy is a long story that you probably don't care about,” Roy says. “So you two are Felicity’s friends from MIT?” 

“MIT,” Logan says, raising an eyebrow in her direction. “Yeah. Sure.”

“Felicity, can I talk to you for a minute,” Oliver says tensely. 

“Um…” Felicity looks between Oliver and Logan, trying to determine if it’s safe for her to leave or not. 

“Go, talk to your boyfriend,” Kitty says, moving to Logan’s side. “Logan and I will be fine here for a few minutes.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Felicity says, which only causes Roy to snort. Felicity turns to glare at him. 

“5 minutes” she says. 

Felicity leads Oliver back to the stock room and pulls him inside, closing the door behind her. 

“What’s going on?” Oliver asks. 

“They are friends of mine,” she says. “Nothing to worry about.” 

“I don’t like him,” he says, crossing his arms. 

“Of course you don’t,” she says. “Logan’s an ass to anyone he doesn’t consider his family and  _ you _ don’t trust anyone.” 

“They’re mutants?” Oliver asks, and she can tell he’s trying to keep his tone neutral. 

“Yes,” she says, daring him to say something more. 

He gives her a tense smile, but smartly doesn’t say anything more, though she can tell he wants to. 

“What were you arguing about?” he asks instead. 

“Is that any of your business?” she asks. 

Oliver pauses, opening and closing his mouth several times. It’s a further sign that things between them are broken, because the Oliver of 3 weeks ago wouldn’t have cared if it was his business or not. He would have seen her upset and demanded to know why. 

“I just want to make sure you’re okay,” he says. “You sounded pretty upset.” 

“My friends don’t understand why I’m living here in Starling instead of in Westchester with them,” she explains. “That’s all.” 

“That’s all?” He looks at her in disbelief. 

She could leave it at that. She doesn’t owe him anything else. However, she knows if things are going to get fixed between the two of them, they have to start talking to each other like they used to. 

“I left the X-Men because I didn’t want to fight crime anymore,” she says. “Something bad happened to me and it became too much. I quit. That’s why Logan’s so overprotective. He’s worried about me, just like you are. They are both just trying to understand how I ended up working for the Arrow.” 

“That’s all?” he asks. 

“That’s all.” 

“So I didn’t hear that asshole say he was going to take you away?” Oliver asks. 

“So you were spying on me?” Felicity asks, not even remotely surprised. “Does that mean Digg and Roy overheard, too?”

“Yes,” he says. “But they didn’t understand what they were hearing.” 

“Thank God,” she says. “I’ll have to come up with something to tell them.” 

“You could always just tell them the truth,” Oliver says, to which Felicity can only laugh. 

“The truth. Yeah. Because that turned out so well with you,” she says, crossing her arms. 

Oliver glares at her, “Well you lied to me. What did you expect me to do?” 

Felicity rolls her eyes. “And I guess you’ve never lied to any of us.” 

Oliver doesn’t respond right away. 

“I know that I didn’t have the best reaction to your…  _ news _ ,” he says, uncrossing his arms. “But you know that I don’t do well with surprises and you just sprung it on me. What did you expect me to do?” 

She can admit that he didn’t find out in the best way possible. He probably would have taken the news better if he hadn’t found out while a stranger came up to them in the middle of a dark alley at night. She can give him that.

“I expected you to be shocked,” she says. “I didn’t expect  _ that _ .” 

“I was probably a bit harsh the other night,” Oliver admits. “I’m sorry. I’ve had some time to think about it, and you’re right. I hardly have any room to criticise when it comes to lying to those you care about. I just… I need you here, Felicity. There are so many people in my life that I can’t trust. People that have betrayed me time and time again. I need to know that you’re not one of those people.” 

“And do you?” she asks, dropping her arms to her sides. When Oliver doesn’t respond, she has her answer. 

“You know that I’m not going to betray you,” she says. “I still have your back, just like I always have and always will. I didn’t lie because I wanted to hurt you. There were so many times that I wanted to tell you. I lied because I was scared for my own safety. Lying about my abilities is all I know.” 

Oliver nods, and she’s fairly sure that he believes her. She’s about to say more when there’s a knock on the door. 

“Hey ‘Lis,” Kitty says. “I hate to be that girl who totally ruins your moment with your man, but your 5 minutes are up and Logan’s getting ansty. There’s really only so much I’ll be able to do if he decides to break down the door and drag you out of there.”

Oliver practically growls and attempts to pull her behind him. She yanks her arms out of his grip. 

“Really, it’s amazing that you two don’t get along. You’re basically the same person. Both stubborn as mules who always conveniently forget that I can take care of myself,” she says. “I’ll be out in a second, Kitty. Just keep Logan from killing anyone.” 

“Felicity, he’s not going anywhere with you,” Oliver says. 

“Oliver, he comes across harsh, so I understand your concern,” she says. “But he’s one of my closest friends and he would never hurt me. He just...”

She pauses, trying to figure out a good way to explain Logan. 

“He doesn’t trust easily,” she says, giving him a pointed look. 

“Fine,” he says. “But I’m coming with you.” 

“You really don’t have to,” she says. 

“What’s the matter, Smoak? Afraid that your friends will tell me embarrassing stories about you?” he asks. “It only seems fair. You knew all of my embarrassing stories with just the touch of your fingertip.” 

“It’s not my fault that all of your embarrassing moments were caught by the paparazzi,” she teases him. 

It doesn’t hit her just yet, but it’s the first time in weeks that things between them aren’t forced. 


	2. Chapter 2

“So this is the best burger in town, huh?” Kitty asks as she takes a bite of her Big Belly Buster. 

“It’s amazing,” Felicity says, taking a sip of her milkshake. “I come here at least twice a week.” 

“What’s amazing is how you can eat all of that and still be hungry later,” Logan says, pointing to her plate that’s got a double cheeseburger on it and is overflowing with fries. 

“Well, you try living with a metabolism that’s basically on superspeed,” she says, throwing a french fry at his head. 

“Remember that time we fought that horde of Sentinels and Felicity ate two whole pizzas afterwards?” Kitty says, causing them all to laugh. 

Felicity’s shocked when that revelation doesn’t earn her a lecture from her nutritionist, sitting to her right. Oliver’s always quick to inform her that her current diet is going to have her dying of a heart attack by the time she turns 30. However, he remains silent. 

Oliver had come to the resturant with them despite her reassurances that she didn’t need a bodyguard. He claimed he wanted to get to know her friends, which was hardly something she could say no to. Except, all he’s done since they’ve gotten to the restaurant is sit there watching them. 

It makes her feel self-conscious, knowing that he’s studying them and taking mental notes of her reactions to everything, but she does her best to ignore it. She hasn’t seen Logan in months and she hasn’t seen Kitty since she moved to Starling. She refuses to ruin her time with them by worrying over what Oliver Queen is thinking of her. 

“Technically, it wasn’t 2 whole pizzas,” she says defensively. 

“Sure, Kid,” Logan says with a smirk. 

“It was one and a half. I shared it with…” she trails off, when she remembers that she’d shared her pizza with Cooper that night. It’d been their first mission together. She still remembers later than evening when she’d snuck into Cooper’s room and they’d shared another first… 

Logan drops the burger he’d been about to eat back onto his plate and pushes it away, putting his elbows on the table and leveling her with a serious look. 

“I don’t understand how you’re still hung up on him,” Logan says, which causes Oliver to sit up in his seat. 

“I’m not hung up on him,” she says. “I just don’t like thinking about him. It brings up too much.” 

“Who are we talking about?” Oliver speaks up for the first time. 

“Felicity’s old boyfriend, Cooper,” Kitty tells him quietly, while Felicity and Logan continue staring at each other, each daring the other to say something. “He’s the reason she quit and moved here.” 

“He’s  _ not _ the reason I moved here,” Felicity says without taking her eyes off Logan. 

“That boy is 100% the reason you moved here,” Logan says. “You never would have gotten into any of that mess if it wasn’t for him. And if you hadn’t gotten into all that shit, you would still be living at the mansion where you belong.”

“She belongs in Starling,” Oliver says with a glare, but she can’t take the time to reassure Oliver that she’s not going anywhere. Not while Logan continues to disrespect Cooper’s memory the way he is. 

“ _ That boy _ saved my life,” she says through gritted teeth, trying not to picture Cooper’s lifeless body at her feet. 

“No,  _ I _ saved your life,” Logan says. “After he put it in danger.” 

“He’s dead, Logan,” she says, biting the inside her of her cheek to stop herself from crying. “He died taking that hit for me.” 

“‘Lis,” Kitty says, reaching out to take her hand and give it a squeeze. She’s surprised to also feel Oliver’s hand on her knee. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she says, shaking her head. “This is supposed to be a happy day. Two of my best friends are in town.” 

“And a happy day it will be,” Kitty says, elbowing Logan in the ribs. “Right?” 

“I don’t do happy,” Logan says. 

Felicity meets Kitty’s eyes and the two of them share a knowing look. 

Logan most certainly does do happy, he just doesn’t like to show it. 

Felicity sits back in her seat and continues eating, sending Oliver a grateful look for his silent support. He removes his hand, but not before mouthing, “You okay?” 

She nods to reassure him that she’s fine. Logan is practically her older brother. They fight and disagree constantly, but they are family. At the end of the day, she knows that Logan just wants what’s best for her, even if they don’t always agree on what that is. 

“So you weren’t kidding when you said you were part of the X-Men,” Oliver says quietly while Logan and Kitty carry on their own conversation. 

“What did you think I meant?” she asks.

“I thought you did what you do for me, just for them,” he says. 

“Well I did,” she says. “I just also did a lot more field work, too.” 

Felicity can already see Oliver rejecting the idea of her going out into the field. It’s written in his eyes as they start to cloud over with worry. She can even see him starting to build up anger at her friends for letting her go into the field with the X-Men. 

“Relax,” she says, putting her hand on his arm. “It wasn’t like I was the A-Team or anything. I didn’t get called out for every mission. It was just every once in awhile, when they needed more bodies to defeat the bad guys. Or when my particular talent was needed for something.” 

“Powers or not, it’s dangerous,” he says, his voice doing that growly, Arrow thing it does whenever he’s confronted with an idea he doesn't like. 

“I know,” she says. “But you don’t have to worry about it anymore. I’ve learned my lesson and I do my hero work behind a desk now.” 

Oliver doesn’t look like he believes her, but he doesn’t say anything more. She turns back to her friends and can’t help but feel a twinge of jealously at the way Kitty’s whispering in Logan’s ear and he’s smiling. Logan is actually smiling. 

Before she’d left, there had only been one other person besides her that Logan let down his guard with, and that had been Jean Grey. 

“So you two never explained how this happened,” she says, pointing at the two of them. 

“Well somebody had to take your spot as Logan’s favorite when you left,” Kitty says, winking at her. 

Felicity smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Kitty ran into some trouble involving her father and I helped her out a bit,” Logan says with a shrug. 

“He’s sugarcoating it,” Kitty says. “I was kidnapped and brainwashed to become an assassin. I almost killed Logan before I came to. He helped me overcome my conditioning and helped save my dad.” 

“What?” Felicity balks. “Why didn’t anyone call me? Why didn’t  _ you _ call me?” she asks Logan. 

“You wanted out of this life,” he says. “It would have been selfish of us to pull you back in.” 

“I’m your friend. No matter what I said about wanting out, I would have been there for you,” she says, feeling a pit in her stomach.

“‘Lis, stuff like this happens to us weekly. If we called you every time something happened, you would never get out,” Kitty says. “Besides, I’m fine. Logan helped me out.”

Kitty doesn’t say it, but Felicity hears it all the same. You weren’t there, so I found somebody else. 

“I’m sorry,” she says, looking down at her plate. She had been so selfish when she’d left. She’d been so consumed with grief that she didn’t even stop to think of the danger she was leaving her friends to face alone. 

“Stop that,” Kitty says. “We didn’t come here to make you feel bad. We came here to check up on you.” 

“Well thanks, but I promise you, I’m fine,” she says. 

“Scott was concerned about you,” Logan says. “He said that your boy Oliver here didn’t take the news you were a mutant well. And with Essex Corp being in town… We just wanted to come and make sure you were okay.” 

Felicity can feel Oliver tensing up beside her and preparing for a fight. She places her hand on his knee to calm him down. 

“If you were so concerned, why are you showing up 3 weeks after the fact?” Felicity asks. 

“The Professor had us out on an extended mission playing bodyguard for a politician,” Logan says. “We didn’t hear about your little hobby until yesterday. Took the first flight out.”

“Professor X told us you were fine, but this guy didn’t believe him and I just wanted to see you, so here we are,” Kitty says. 

“Little hobby?” Oliver says, leaning forward in his seat. 

“Listen, bub—” Logan says, 

“Bub?” Oliver cuts him off, and Felicity has to actually shock Oliver in order to keep him from jumping over the table. 

“It’s like there’s two of ‘em,” Kitty says with a laugh. “I think you might have a type.” 

“Logan is like my brother. You can hardly call him my type,” Felicity says, grimacing at the thought of Logan that way.

“And Oliver?” Kitty says with a smirk. 

Felicity turns bright red and begins plotting ways to murder the girl in her sleep. 

“Okay, new topic,” Felicity says, loudly, trying to change the subject. 

Kitty bites her lips to keep from laughing at her and Felicity kicks her under the table. 

“I hate you,” she grumbles under her breath.

“No you don’t,” Kitty says with a laugh. “You missed me finally getting my codename.”

“Yeah?” she asks, perking up in excitement. Throughout their time together at school, Felicity and their friends would always suggest names for her, but she never liked any of them enough for one to stick. “What should I call you, then?” 

“Shadowcat,” she says with a smile. 

“Shadowcat,” Felicity says, trying it out on her tongue. “Well, it’s certainly more badass than Sprite.” 

Logan and Felicity both laugh as Kitty groans and gives them both the finger. 

“One of our professors gave Kitty the nickname ‘Sprite,’” Felicity explains to Oliver. “Which was cute when we were in school.” 

“But far less cute once I wasn’t a kid anymore,” Kitty says. “You try getting off with your boyfriend when all he keeps yelling in bed is Sprite.” 

Felicity bursts into hysterics and literally falls into Oliver’s lap from laughing so uncontrollably. 

“Was that Colossus or Doug?” Logan asks. 

“I never dated Doug,” Kitty says. 

Felicity pushes herself out of Oliver’s lap and wipes away the tears that had fallen from laughing so hard. Oliver is looking at her curiously, wearing a bewildered smile. 

“Doesn’t mean you couldn’t have had sex,” Logan says. He laughs when Kitty smacks him on the back of the head. 

“What ever happened to Doug anyway?” Felicity asks. 

“He’s around,” Kitty says. “We still talk.” 

“You should call him. You guys were good together,” Logan says, making Felicity do a double take. 

“Since when do you give out dating advice that isn’t, ‘Don’t talk to him,’ or ‘Wait until you’re 30?’” Felicity asks. 

“Since I can actually trust her taste in men,” Logan says. 

Kitty sticks her tongue out at Felicity and Felicity reaches out to shock her. 

“Jerk,” Kitty says, rubbing her arm, even though Felicity knows it couldn’t have hurt. 

“Wait, I thought you two were dating,” Oliver says, pointing at Kitty and Logan. 

“Us? Hell no,” Logan says. 

“I don’t know whether to agree with you or be offended at how soundly you just rejected the idea of dating me,” Kitty says. 

“Don’t take it personally,” Felicity says. “You know that Logan only has eyes for one girl.” 

“And  _ she _ only has eyes for one boy,” Logan says, looking off into the distance with an angry look on his face. 

“She’s still engaged to Scott then?” Felicity asks Kitty, who nods, patting Logan’s shoulder sympathetically. 

“Do you remember that one time in Grey’s class when John accidentally set the whole class on fire?” Felicity asks. 

Kitty nods, “It wasn’t nearly as entertaining as the time you took over Logan’s class and kept correcting all of his powerpoints.” 

“I did no such thing,” Felicity says with a blush. 

“You most certainly did, and I was the one that got blamed for it,” Kitty says. “I have no idea why. You are the only one that could mess with tech.” 

“You little shit,” Logan says, glaring at her. “This is why I told the Professor I can’t teach.” 

“You can teach,” Felicity says. “Just not Science.” 

“I was subbing for Hank. I was doing you brats a favor and that’s the thanks I got?” 

“You can give me detention for using my powers in class if it’ll make you feel better,” Felicity says. 

She’s missed this. Just being able to be with her own kind is freeing. It’s normal in a way that nothing else in her life is. Oliver and Digg are great and she wouldn’t trade them for the world. They are her best friends. But they aren’t mutants. They will never be able to talk to her the way that her fellow X-Men can. 

“What I’d really like is to put you up in front of a class full of know-it-all punks and see how you fare,” Logan says. “I don’t know how anyone survived having the two of you in class together.” 

“We were angels,” Kitty says, sending Felicity a knowing look. They were most certainly not angels. The two of them got into plenty of trouble in their school days, mostly because they were both too smart for their own good. 

“You were spawns of satan,” Logan says. “The teachers all complained about you in the lunchroom.” 

“I find that hard to believe,” Felicity says. “The Professor said we just weren’t being challenged enough academically and we were acting out of boredom.”

“How did you know that?” Logan asked. 

“He wrote it in any email,” she says, wiggling her fingers and smiling. 

“You really should come back to the team, you know,” Kitty says. “I can hack almost anything, but it takes a human amount of time to do so and you’ve got the entire team thinking that it should only take seconds to hack into secure FBI databases.” 

“Felicity’s not going anywhere,” Oliver says. “She’s needed here.” 

“I get it,” Kitty says with a roll of her eyes. “You, Tarzan. Her, Jane.”

Oliver glares at her and Felicity does her best not to laugh at the look on his face. Kitty’s not entirely wrong. Oliver does have a tendency to be a bit caveman at times when it comes to protecting people. 

“I can speak for myself, you know,” she says. 

“Why, did you want to go with them?” Oliver asks. 

“No,” she says. “I’m staying here. But that doesn’t mean I can’t tell them that myself.” 

****

“So, those were your friends,” Oliver says when Felicity returns back to her house a few hours later to find him sitting on her front porch. 

“Those were my friends,” she says. 

“Kitty seems nice,” he says as Felicity digs around for her keys. 

“She is,” she says. “She’s been my best friend since my first night at the mansion. I couldn’t sleep and she was watching Doctor Who in the lounge.” 

“Well I can see how your friendship started then,” he says, following her inside. 

“So what brings you here at this time of night?” Felicity asks. 

“There is something I need to say to you and I didn’t want to wait.”

“Okay,” she says, wondering if she should be nervous or not. 

“If you want to go back with them… I think you should,” Oliver says. 

His words feel like a punch to the stomach. Is this is subtle way of kicking her off the team? 

“What?” 

“I don’t want you to go,” he says, grabbing her hands as she starts to cry. “But, Felicity… I’ve never seen you as happy as you were tonight. You’ve obviously got a lot of support back in Westchester and I would hate to be the reason that you gave that up.” 

“Oliver…” She doesn’t even know what to say. 

Was she happy tonight? Of course. It’s always nice to catch up with old friends and reminisce. And she’d be lying if she said she didn’t miss being around other mutants where she didn’t have to hide her powers. But she’d left Westchester for a reason. She doesn’t want to live around the constant death that surrounds that mansion. She doesn’t have the energy to be in the heart of the fight against mutants anymore. It’s exhausting. She has watched too many people come attack the mansion in their quest to destroy mutants, and she can’t handle it. Not on a day-to-day basis. 

Starling is her home now. She has her own support group here. And sure, maybe they aren’t mutants, but Oliver knows her secret now, so maybe she’ll be able to start talking to him when she has a rough day and just needs to vent. And for those days she just need somebody who truly understands what it’s like to walk in her shoes, Kitty and Logan are just a phone call away. 

“I want to stay here,” she says. 

“Felicity, I heard all of their stories about you,” Oliver says. “The way they talk about you… You are an honest to god hero. Not the vigilante kind that I am, living in the dark and operating beyond the law. You did a lot of good when you were with them. You saved a lot of lives.” 

“I save a lot of lives when I’m working with you,” she argues. “Oliver, I’m not leaving.” 

“You’re sure?” Oliver asks.

At her nod, his face breaks out into a wide grin. “Good. Because I was just trying to do the right thing, but I can’t promise if you actually left that I wouldn’t change my mind and try to drag you back here kicking and screaming.” 

“Oliver, you never have to drag me back here,” she says. “This is my home. Your mission is now my mission.” 

“Good,” he says. “I was getting really worried when you stopped coming in the last few weeks.”

“Well things between us have been a bit weird lately,” she says. “It was just easier to do my work from home than to deal with how awkward things were when I’d show up.” 

“Well we seem to be doing the whole conversation thing just fine now,” he says. “Maybe the awkwardness is gone.” 

“That’d be nice,” she says. “I’ve missed the lair. My townhouse is awesome and I love it, but it doesn’t have the salmon ladder.” 

At Oliver’s raised eyebrows and amused look, she immediately realizes what she’s said and tries to backtrack. 

“I just mean… I’ve gotten used to working over the sound of you going to town on that thing. No… no. That sounds even worse. That’s not what I meant to say. What I meant to say was—”

“Felicity,” Oliver reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder and stop her rambling. 

“Yes?” she asks, looking up at him even though she’s mortified. 

“You didn’t miss the salmon ladder,” he says, leaning in close to whisper into her ear. “I only do the salmon ladder when you’re there.”

He then pulls away and winks at her before waving goodbye and walking out the door.

That smug bastard. 

****

The next morning, Felicity is having breakfast at Logan and Kitty’s hotel before their flight home in a few hours. 

“I wish you guys could stay longer,” Felicity says. 

“We could always buy you a ticket to come with us,” Kitty says hopefully. “You know there will always be a room for you at the mansion.” 

“I know,” Felicity says with a sad smile. “And there are certainly days where that is tempting. But my life is here now.” 

“I understand,” she says. “If I had an Oliver Queen, my life would be right here, too.” 

Felicity’s not sure what she means by that. 

“He’s cute, Lis. You need to get out of your head and start hitting that before he gets tired of waiting for you and finds somebody else’s ass to stare at all night.” 

“Oliver doesn’t think of me like that,” Felicity says. 

“Oh no?” she asks, wearing an amused smirk. “Tell her, Logan.” 

“The only thing I’m going to tell her is to stay as far away from Queen as possible.”

Felicity rolls her eyes. It’s literally, word for word, the exact same thing he’d told her about Cooper. The least he could do is find a new script. 

“Logan, look at me,” she says, waiting for him to meet her eyes. “I’m okay here. You can stop worrying about me.” 

“I’ll always worry about you, Kid,” he says. 

“Well you don’t have to anymore,” she says. “Oliver won’t let anything happen to me.” 

“He doesn’t have a good history with women,” he says. “He’s just going to use you and toss you the second something better comes along.” 

“Oliver doesn’t even like me like that,” Felicity says. “We’re just friends.” 

“Kid, you are blind as a bat sometimes,” Logan says. “That boy is like a dog in heat looking at you. You can smell the lust on him a mile away. You can smell it on both of you.” 

“You were smelling us?” Felicity says, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “That’s really creepy. Please stop.” 

“I can’t help it,” he says with a shrug. 

“You most certainly can help it,” she says with a pointed look. “Don’t play that card with me. Stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. Literally.” 

“Okay, but I think you’re glossing past the most important part of what Logan said,” Kitty says. “Oliver wants you.” 

Felicity shakes her head, refusing to believe it. 

“Oliver Queen doesn’t want me,” she says. “I’m not his type.” 

“‘Lis, not only are you a total babe, but you’re also one of the most kind-hearted, intelligent, funniest people I’ve ever met,” Kitty says, pulling her in for a hug. “Any man would want you. And Oliver Queen most certainly does. Tell her, Logan.” 

“No,” he grumbles. “I’m not encouraging her to date a playboy, let alone a vigilante who’s probably going to get himself killed before the year is through. She can do better.” 

Felicity knows that Logan’s grumpiness comes from a place of love, so she ignores it and instead leans in to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. 

“I’m really glad that you guys came out to visit,” she says. “It was good seeing you.” 

“You, too,” Kitty says.

“It would have been nice, except I was hoping to find out that Scott had lost his mind and you weren’t being incredibly reckless and working for the Hood.” 

“The Arrow,” she corrects him for what feels like the millionth time. “You know, my life was just as dangerous when I was part of the X-Men. I never heard you complaining then.”

“Because I could look out for you there,” Logan says. “There’s nothing I can do if a bullet comes at you when you’re all the way in Starling and I’m back in Westchester.”

“I promise not to get shot at,” she says. 

“That’s not a promise you are able to make when you work for a vigilante and you live in the most dangerous city in the country,” he says. 

“Logan, just give me a hug and tell me it was good to see me,” she says, holding out her arms.

Logan pulls her in for a tight hug and says, “It was really good to see you, Current. If these boys out here give you any trouble, just zap ‘em in the family jewels and call me.” 

“I love you guys,” she says once Logan finally lets go and she can pull Kitty into a hug. “Call me if you ever need my help. I don’t want to hear any more of this business of you getting brainwashed and nobody letting me know.”

“Only if you call us when your city inevitably gets hit with a natural disaster in May,” Kitty says. 

“Don’t jinx us,” Felicity says, smacking her on the arm. 

“I guess this is it,” Kitty says. “We’ve got a flight to catch and you’ve got a man to pin down. Literally and figuratively. I’m sure Oliver does some really great pinning. He looks like he’s a pro—” 

“Not things I want to hear,” Logan grumbles. 

“Now I know what I’m going to be talking about the whole flight back,” Kitty whispers to her with a laugh.

“Don’t piss him off too much,” she says. “The last thing you want when you’re 35,000 feet in the air is for his claws to come out.” 

“Good call,” Kitty says. “I’ll wait til we’re back at the mansion to torture him with images of you and Oliver doing the dirty.”

“We won’t be doing the dirty,” Felicity says, knowing it will be of no use. Kitty’s already got her mind made up that something is going to happen and she knows that nothing she says will change that. 

****

Felicity walks into Verdant that evening and is surprised to find Oliver waiting for her in the club, rather than downstairs in the basement.

“Do I want to know why you’re up here instead of downstairs?” she asks. 

She notices that his thumb is rubbing against his index finger, a sure sign of stress. What happened? She just saw him last night and everything was fine. Surely he would have texted her if an emergency came up throughout the day. 

“I thought we should get our stories straight before going down there,” he says. 

“Our stories straight?” she asks, having no idea what he’s talking about. Did they rob a bank or something without her realizing it? Was there somebody waiting to interrogate them downstairs?

“Digg is asking a lot of questions after last night,” he says, and finally she understands. He’s not talking about the police, he’s talking about Digg and Roy. 

“What did you tell them?” she asks. 

“That they should really talk to you if they have questions, considering they were your friends,” he says. 

“So you just threw me under the bus,” Felicity says with a playful glare. “Thanks alot, Queen.”

“Well I didn’t know what you wanted me to say, and you always say I’m bad at coming up with cover stories,” he says, raising his hands in defense.

“Because you are, Mr. I-Ran-Out-Of-Sports-Bottles,” she says. 

“Are you going to tell them?” he asks. 

She hadn’t really thought that far ahead. She’d been more consumed with worry over Oliver’s reaction that she hadn’t thought about if she wanted to tell the others. Then last night, she’d been busy trying to make sure that Logan and Oliver didn’t kill each other. 

Felicity takes a moment to truly think about it. Roy’s never been the kind to judge. He rolls with the punches incredibly well and few things ever truly phase him. She can’t imagine he’ll give her a hard time. At least, not beyond harassing her to charge his phone for him from now on since the boy is notorious for missing calls because his battery is always dead.

Digg is a giant question mark. He’s a lot more understanding and compassionate. He’ll immediately understand why she lied and won’t take it personally. However, she also knows that he always has a hard time with anything supernatural. Way back when they’d taken down the pyro, she remembers Digg repeatedly asking, ‘he makes fire?’ with this shocked look on his face. 

Still, she doesn’t think that either of them will turn her in. Oliver was the one she was most worried about. 

“Yeah,” she says, feeling her heartbeat speed up at the thought of telling somebody her secret willingly. “I guess it’s time.” 

“I’ll be there the whole time,” Oliver assures her. 

They make their way downstairs together and she’s not surprised to see Digg and Roy already waiting for her at her desk. 

“I think it’s time you told us what’s going on,” Digg says. 

Felicity feels like she can’t breathe. The thought of opening her mouth and telling them her most guarded secret is suffocating. She doesn’t know how to do this. Every instinct in her has always told her to keep quiet about her abilities.

She’s heard the horror stories. When she was at Xavier’s school, her classmates had told her about coming out to their friends and family. One boy’s best friend called the cops on him. A girl’s parents arranged for her to go through an exorcism. Cooper confided in her that his powers had emerged at school and his classmates had been so scared they’d locked him in the boiler room where he’d waited 32 hours before the janitor finally found him. 

Logically, she knows that won't be her. No matter how scared or angry they may be, they won’t hurt her. Even if they tried, she can protect herself now. Her time with the X-Men had made sure of that. She shouldn't be nervous...

Still, she feels like she might vomit at the thought of coming out to Roy and Digg. She can’t do it. 

“I don’t know what you mean,” Felicity says, stalling for time while she tries to come up with a plausible lie. She’s not ready to tell them. 

She feels Oliver reach out to take hold of her hand, and she feels bad. Her nerves are going haywire and she can’t help but shock him, but he doesn’t let go. She prays that Oliver’s larger hand in hers is able to cover up the little blue sparks coming out of her so that Digg and Roy won’t see. 

“Who were those people last night?” Digg asks, crossing his arms, making him look even more intimidating. 

“They are my friends from MIT,” she says with a shrug, letting go of Oliver’s hand and going to move to her computers, but Digg steps in to block her path. 

“Now why don’t I believe that?” he asks. 

“I don’t know,” Felicity says. 

“Digg,” Oliver says with a warning tone, moving to step in between Felicity and Digg.

“Felicity, talk to me,” he says. 

She can hear the worry in Digg’s voice and it makes her instantly guilty. He’s her best friend. The thought of telling him shouldn’t send her into a tailspin like this. She takes another deep breath while she focuses her attention on her power, reaching out for all of the energy running through her body and then she mentally starts to reel it in until she’s no longer sparking. 

“I’m going to take Felicity home,” Oliver says, giving Digg a pointed look. “We’ll see you tomorrow.” 

Felicity shakes her head at him. 

“Another day isn’t going to make it any easier to tell them,” she says, feeling her courage start to return. She can do this. If she can face down Slade Wilson, she can tell Digg and Roy that she’s a mutant. 

“Are you sure?” Oliver asks so that only she can hear him. 

She nods her head. It doesn’t look like Oliver believes her and Digg is still staring at her like he’s afraid she may be dying. She sends both of them her most reassuring smile. 

“I’m okay,” she tells them both. 

Oliver nods, but Digg continues to look at her suspiciously. 

“What’s going on, Felicity?” he asks. 

She reaches out for Oliver and he instantly offers her his hand. 

“I knew it,” Roy says. “You two did hook up. You were lying yesterday. Man, I really thought you’d both last until at least August. Now, I have to pay Digg $50.” 

Felicity’s face heats up in embarrassment. Had Roy and Digg bet on when Oliver and her would sleep together? How was that even a topic of conversation for them, let alone something they would place bets on? 

“We didn’t sleep together,” Felicity says to the floor, unable to meet any of their eyes when she’s talking about sex with Oliver. She’s sure if she does, her true feelings will be revealed and they don’t need to know that she’s in love with Oliver. She’s not even 100% sure she wants Oliver to know she’s in love with him, regardless of what Logan and Kitty said. 

“Oh, well that’s good,” Roy says. “Cause if you two can just hold out until August, then Digg will owe  _ me _ $50.” 

At this point, Digg leans over and smacks Roy upside the head. 

“What was that for?” Roy asks. 

“Man, you really don’t know when to stop talking, do you?” Digg says. 

“Please tell me you two were not taking bets on when Felicity and I would sleep together?” Oliver glares at Digg and Roy. 

“I was just trying to earn some easy money for the nursery,” Digg says, holding his hands up in defense. “You know being Oliver Queen’s bodyguard doesn’t pay as much as it used to.” 

“Can we get back on topic, please,” she begs. 

“What’s going on? Did last night have anything to do with the reason Oliver and you fought and have been avoiding each other?” Digg asks.

She nods, taking a deep breath, willing herself to do it quickly, like a band-aid. 

She closes her eyes, not wanting to see their reaction then says, “I’m a mutant.” 

“What?” Digg says, she can hear the shock in his voice. 

“Is this one of those things where girls say bad stuff about themselves so that you’ll give them a compliment?” Roy asks. “Felicity, you’re a pretty girl. You’re not a mutant. I’m sure Oliver will get off his ass soon enough and ask you out. There’s no way he thinks you’re a mutant with the way he stares at your ass.” 

“Roy!” Oliver says, clearly about to lose his temper.

Felicity doesn’t even know where to start with sorting out Oliver’s potential feelings for her that everyone seems to be 100% convinced he has. But that’s a problem for another day. 

“I’m being serious here, Roy. I’m a mutant,” she says again. 

She opens her eyes slowly, expecting to see Digg having run for the hills and Roy looking at her in fear. Instead, she’s met with confusion. 

“Just to be clear, when you say you’re a mutant…” Digg trails off.

“I mean I’ve got the X-Gene,” Felicity says carefully, waiting for them to realize what she’s saying is true and turn on her.

“And you’ve been… activated?” Digg asks. “That’s why you’re just now telling us? You just discovered it yourself?” 

“I don’t really know if I would call it being activated,” she says with a laugh that quickly dies in her throat. “My powers were triggered when I was a teenager. I’ve known about them for awhile.” 

“So what can you do?” Roy asks, leaning against her desk, barely looking phased. “Can you read people’s minds? Create fire? I heard there’s a girl who turns into a diamond or something… Is that you?” 

“No,” she says, shaking her head. She looks over at Oliver who’s giving her an encouraging nod. 

“Show them,” Oliver says. 

She nods, knowing it’s expected. Seeing really is believing. 

She holds out her hand and focuses on pushing her energy outside of her body. Her hands begin to crackle as little blue bolts of electricity come out of her. Then she raises her hand and touches her computer. It takes barely a moment before all of the power in the room is redirected into her body and the lights shut off. 

“Cool,” Roy says. “What do they call you? Blackout?” 

Felicity pushes the power back out of her and then some, causing the lights to all come back on, this time even brighter than before, lighting up the entire basement as bright as a summer day. 

“Current,” she says. “Because I’m basically…” 

She waves down at herself.

“A walking, talking, electrical current?” Oliver says with a smile that still feels odd after how he’d initially taken the news. 

“Pretty much,” she says. 

Felicity turns to Digg, who hasn’t said anything and is currently staring at her like she’s an alien. 

“Are you okay?” she asks him.

“Woah,” is his only response. He keeps opening and closing his mouth like he wants to say more, but no words will come out. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys before,” she says, feeling her eyes start to well up with tears at Digg’s continued lack of response. “I was scared of what you might think.” 

“It’s cool,” Roy says with a shrug. “Half the kids on the streets are only there because they’re mutants whose parents kicked them out. I’ve seen enough in my life to appreciate the value of a secret.”

“Thanks,” she says, giving him a shaky smile. 

“Yeah. But now, you’re gonna have to come do this light trick in my apartment, because I didn’t pay my electric bill and I’ve been living off candles for the last 2 weeks,” he says with a smirk, causing her to roll her eyes. 

“I’ll see what I can do,” she says. “Or, you could just actually pay your bill.” 

“Considering my last job was at my ex-girlfriend’s club that got closed down? I’ve got no money. The pay for a vigilante isn’t as great as you’d think,” he says.

Oliver rolls his eyes and Felicity laughs through her tears as Roy walks back towards the training mats to give them some space. 

“So…” Felicity says, trailing off, not knowing what to say to lighten the tense mood. 

“Why don’t I go train with Roy and give you two a minute?” Oliver says, looking at her to see if that’s what she wants or if she needs him to stay here. 

She nods, letting him know that she’s okay to be left alone. She knows that Digg isn’t going to hurt her. He would have pulled his gun on her the second she did her trick with the lights if he was really worried about her. 

“Are you mad at me?” she asks.

“Mad? No,” Digg says. “Shocked? Hell yeah. I mean, I’ve seen mutants before. The army has secret task forces full of them. But it’s still always surprising to see. I’m still not even sure how it’s possible.” 

“Everyone has electricity in their bodies,” Felicity says. “Mine just has more. It can tolerate more.” 

“Okay,” he says. “When you explain it like that, it doesn’t seem so strange. But what about the girl who can walk through walls.” 

“That would be Kitty, the girl you met last night,” she says, to which Digg’s eyes practically fall out of their sockets. “Walking through walls is just Quantum Tunneling.”

“ _ Just Quantum Tunneling _ . I don’t even know what that is.” 

“Well it’s basically when an object composed of atoms can…” Felicity trails off her explanation when Digg sends her an amused look. “You don’t really care about the science behind Quantum Tunneling, do you?” 

“Not particularly,” he says with a smile. “You know, those powers of yours would’ve come in handy more than a few times over the years.” 

“I’ve used my powers on every mission,” she says. “I just used them for hacking.” 

“Well why haven’t you used them for fighting? Seriously. We can train you and get you out in the field. You’d be an asset.” 

“Oh no, I gave up being a vigilante a long time ago. I’d much rather do my job from behind a computer screen,” she explains. 

“Wait, you were a vigilante before?” he asks, looking her up and down, sizing her up now that he’s got this new information about her. 

“It was a lifetime ago, and I have no interest in being out in the field for anything other than the occasional on-site hack,” she says. 

“Fair,” Digg says. He stands up straighter and grabs his leather jacket and car keys off of the med bay table. “But we are going to start training with you again. I at least want you able to protect yourself if anyone should ever come after you again, like Slade did.” 

Digg mentions Slade, but she can see in his eyes that he knows the real dangers she faces aren’t the Slade Wilson’s of the world. It’s men like William Stryker and companies like Essex Corp. 

“If it makes you happy,” she says. 

If she’s being honest with herself, the appearance of Essex Corp in Starling a few days ago has reminded her that even if she’s no longer a member of the X-Men, it doesn’t mean she is safe. At any given time, somebody could find out about her powers and come after her. Training with Digg isn’t the worst idea in the world. 

“It does,” Digg says, coming to pull her into a hug. “Thank you for trusting me with your secret,” he says when they pull apart. 

“Thank you for not freaking out on me when I told you,” she says. 

Digg glances over at Oliver and chuckles to himself. “I can imagine Oliver didn’t take it well at first. That’s why you two fought?” 

“You know Oliver,” she says, trying to make light of it. Oliver had come around after his initial freak out, which really was the most important thing. “He always complains first before accepting anything new.” 

Digg nods his head, before turning to call out to the others. “I’ll catch you all later! I’ve gotta get back home to Lyla. She sent me a 9-11 text, which either means there’s been a break-in at home or we are out of ice cream.” 

“Do you need backup?” Oliver asks. 

“Only if we’re out of ice cream,” Digg says. “If that’s the case, just make sure they bury me next to Andy.” 

“Good luck!” Oliver says in mock seriousness. 

Felicity is about to make a comment about how Lyla can’t possibly be as hormonal as Digg makes her out to be. Or perhaps point out how he’d be a million times worse if he was pregnant and carrying a child that was literally sucking the energy from his bodies, but Roy coming over to pull on her arm keeps her from a feminist rant. 

“What are you doing?” she asks as Roy hands her her purse and keys. 

“Oh, I was serious about you turning the power on in my apartment,” Roy says. “Let’s go.” 

Felicity rolls her eyes, pretending to be annoyed, but secretly she’s glad that Roy and Digg have reacted exactly like she’d hoped. Neither of them freaked out and yelled at her for lying. Neither of them have any plans on turning her into the police. It makes her feel ridiculous for having a panic attack earlier. 

“Okay, but I’m not going to turn into your new portable generator,” she tells him as he leads her up the stairs right behind Digg. 

Felicity glances back at Oliver once she reaches the door, and she’s happy to see him smiling up at all three of them. She’s less happy to know that he’s not leaving with them because he has nowhere to go. He lives down in this dark and dingy basement. The thought causes her to reach out to the light switch and send out just a bit more energy, making the lair even lighter. It’s the most she can do without overloading the system and causing the power to surge and fry all of their equipment. 

She’s going to have to do something about Oliver’s lack of home sooner or later. 

Or at least get him a bed so he’s not sleeping on the floor. 

If Logan had a problem with her potentially dating Oliver when he thought he was a billionaire, she shudders to think of what his opinion would be if he found out Oliver was basically unemployed, homeless, and living in the lair. 

Now that the two of them are past their initial awkwardness, she needs to restart their nightly sessions in which she helps him prepare to take back his company. Oliver Queen needs his job back and fast. And if working to get his job back means late nights spent together at her house, well… Felicity’s not going to complain. 

Kitty is right. She needs to take her chance with Oliver if she doesn’t want him to end up with somebody else. She just needs to come up with a plan to find out if Oliver actually likes her, or if everyone is just reading too much into their friendship. 

“Felicity. Focus,” Roy says, tugging once more on her hand until she’s stepping out the door and Oliver is no longer in view. “You can make heart eyes at Oliver later. First, you need to help the poor and downtrod.” 

“And that’s you?” she says with a snort. 

“I have no power,” he says. “Of course that’s me. I can’t believe you’ve let me go without electricity for 2 weeks when you had the power to fix it.” 

“In all fairness, you never told me you were without power,” she says. 

“I would have if I’d known you could fix it,” he says, smirking at her. “But on a serious note… is your friend Kitty seeing anyone?” 

“Absolutely not,” Felicity says. “Kitty is off-limits. In fact, all of my friends are off-limits.” 

“Well you’re no fun.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys did your support and love! I hope this second part lived up to the first!

**Author's Note:**

> I appreciate the continued support for this verse. Hope you all enjoy this installment as much as I enjoyed writing it. The second part will be up later this week.


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